Japan, among the hardest-hit Asian nations, is seeing some of its densely populated cities becoming hotspots for new outbreaks the government appears to be having difficulty containing.

Japan On Day-10 of 900 Average Daily Cases

On Thursday Japan's Health Ministry reported 1,490 new confirmed COVID-19 cases. It was the 10th consecutive day the country recorded more than 900 daily new cases.

Escalation has been fast over the past five weeks with more than half of Japan's 44,527 total infections having been reported since July 1.

The worst-affected city is Tokyo where there have been small, but widespread outbreaks stemming from locations such as nightlife establishments and karaoke bars.

Tokyo Cases Continue to Rise

On Friday the Tokyo metropolitan government reported an additional 462 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, breaking the city's previous high of 472 infections.

The capital remains the worst affected in the country and there are fears holidays next week could see an increase in local transmissions as people travel.

As of Friday the capital had reported 15,107 confirmed cases and the national infection number was more than 44,000.

India Surpasses 2 Million Confirmed Infections

India on Friday passed 2 million confirmed infections. According to the Health Ministry there are now 2,027,000 COVID-19 cases in the country.

It took nearly six months before India reached 1 million cases but infections escalated quickly from there and in fewer than two weeks the country reached 1.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. In nine additional days only India joined the U.S. and Brazil to become the third country to pass 2 million cases.

Despite the infection numbers health authorities said there was hope because data indicated around 68 percent of infected patients had recovered.

Also Friday the country reported a record single-day increase of 62,538 new cases. There were 886 deaths taking national fatalities to 41,585.

New Provisions for Singaporeans Who Travel

In Singapore community transmissions have slowed. However, the government continues to help those infected after returning to the country.

According to new provisions select people may get regular healthcare financing if they show COVID-19 symptoms when they return to Singapore from permitted travels.

Those eligible for coronavirus healthcare financing are long-term pass holders, all Singaporeans and permanent residents whose travel is permitted.

As of Friday there were 242 new confirmed coronavirus cases taking the national infection number to 54,797.

South Korea Cases Fall

After recording a sharp rise in new daily cases Thursday this figure fell to 20 Friday.

The country has seen a downtrend in daily cases for at least 13 days until Thursday's 40 cases. Cluster infections are still the main driver of daily new cases in the country.

As of Friday South Korea had 14,519 confirmed COVID-19 cases.